You See Campus Changes at UC Campuses

        There have been several key changes on University of California campuses in the past couple of years, and there are more changes to come in the near future. High school students looking to apply to any UC should be aware of such changes, since the UC system has become increasingly competitive as a result of California state budget cuts, new policies concerning SAT Subject tests and changes in academic requirements for freshman applicants for fall 2012 admissions.

Budget Cuts

        In the current state of economic crisis in California, parents are looking to send their children to less expensive universities, with many UC campuses being prime targets. The UC system’s world-renowned standards of education are attractive to many students and the cost of attending compared to other colleges, namely private institutions, makes them even more enticing. As a result, competition for spots at UC campuses has dramatically increased, just as funds have taken a downturn. There have been noticeable effects on UCs as a result of the lack of funding.  

        Director of College Counseling Mary Connolly has observed that there have been significant cutbacks on the UC Counselor Conferences for high schools across the state. The presentations for high school counselors used to be an all-day event to inform counselors about UC admission updates. In addition, specialized workshops were held focusing on helping students with personal statements and providing additional useful information in the admission process. This year, the conference given to high school counselors was shortened to a morning event in which the Office of the President shared information regarding admission updates for all UCs, followed by a five-minute speech given by each of the UC admission directors regarding changes that have occurred at each of the nine campuses.

        Now, the UC system has tried to make all the information available on their online website, but the information given to college counselors doesn’t seem to be enough. Connolly assures that the reduction in information given at the conferences doesn’t really affect Presentation students because Connolly and College Counselor MaryLynne Rodriguez attend every year and are well-aware of the information. However, this change will really affect public high schools that only have one college counselor for the hundreds of students who do not have access to the one-on-one attention as they begin their college applications.

        Recently, students have not had access to visits from any UC campuses because the UCs have no money to spend on travel costs and visit high schools. Students may have noticed that for the past couple of years at least, no UC has sent a representative to a lunchtime information session at Presentation. In the past, the UCs have debated on whether they even have the funds to attend large college fairs, such as the large fair at Mission College last spring. Even at this college fair, Santa Cruz was the only UC represented. In this way, it appears that the UCs have made the effort to attend large college fairs, even without travel funds, but they are also only sending representatives to appeal to students in the local area.

        In addition to the strain on student information resources, there has been a need to reduce the number of freshmen at UC campuses. This is a change that occurred last year and will occur this year. In 2009, certain campuses had to “trim” their enrollment. For example, UC Irvine had to ensure that around 525 fewer freshmen were accepted. However, this doesn’t mean that UC Irvine declined admission to just 525 people. They had to accept exponentially fewer freshmen applicants: roughly 3 thousand. UC Irvine had to take into account the percent yield of people that they accepted who actually enrolled, thus accounting for the large number of students who were denied admission. Last year, other campuses that had to accept fewer freshmen were: UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara and UC Santa Cruz. This year, even more campuses are administering this alternative to combat the budget cuts. UC San Diego, UCLA, and UC Berkeley will also be accepting fewer freshmen applicants for fall 2010. “In this budget situation, the state only gives UC campuses xamount of dollars for a finite amount of students,” said Connolly. “And for any more students the UCs accept, they will not be getting money for. The UCs are having to dip into whatever funds they have, and that’s why they have to be so strict on the freshmen number.”  

        At UC Berkeley, budget cuts may significantly alter California’s student acceptances. Berkeley actually has the capacity for more students than what the state is willing to reimburse. There are roughly 4,300 available student spaces, but the state will only pay for 3,900 to 4,000 student spaces. This figure may even be cut down further. UC Berkeley admissions directors have stated that they’re looking to accept out-of-state applicants and international students who will pay the full tuition amount. They say that this shouldn’t affect California applicants, but UC Berkeley needs the infusion of funds from students who will be paying the full tuition to attend. No other UC campus will do this, however, because the other campuses do not have the availability of space that UC Berkeley does.

        Once students get there, another issue brought about by budget cuts will be the availability of classes and the implementation of furlough days. Connolly explains: “Furlough days are days when professors have to take the day off without pay. In essence, pay is being cut but they still have to do the same amount of work and make sure they cover the required material. So this is certainly not good for employee morale.” Although changes may vary on the different UC campus locations, all proclaim that the very last things they will touch are academic programs and student support services, such as tutoring. But still, the UCs are feeling the crunch. It is very important for them to ensure that students are graduating in four years, because it does not help the UCs to continue to educate students for five or six years because then the other students who are enrolling as freshmen now can’t take the classes they need. Behind the scenes, UCs have been cutting support staff, such as secretaries, and as a result it is now potentially more difficult for students to communicate with major departments and get their personal questions answered.

Rumor Has It… What’s the buzz on Asians at Berkeley?

        One of the most persistent rumors that has instilled fear in student populations, particularly Asian Americans, is that UC Berkeley is planning on limiting the number of Asian applicants by denying them admission in favor of accommodating more Caucasian students on the campus. Convincing as this may seem, this statement is full of holes.

        They’re not limiting Asians. Starting with this year’s sophomores, new policies are being implemented and this could account for how this rumor originated. The particular policy in question eliminates subject tests as being a requirement for eligibility. Many Asian American groups feel that this policy will dramatically affect their chances of acceptance to UC Berkeley because this particular population tends to do very well on SATs, and by eliminating the tests, Asian Americans are going to lose a piece of their application that could have helped them get accepted. “This is in no way a policy of UC Berkeley. Absolutely not! It’s too bad that there have been rumors about this,” said Connolly.

        Many of these policies are driven by the UC faculty because they want to be able to have a broader spectrum of applications. That is, they want to open up the admission process for teenagers who may not have even known subject tests were a requirement, for example, and include those who may have otherwise been automatically considered ineligible for admission. The UC faculty is really trying to not shut the door on those applicants hoping to achieve a UC education. “It is currently impossible for a student to become eligible for UC admission without taking SAT Subject Tests in two different subject areas,” said UC Academic Senate Chair Mary Croughan. “As a result, many otherwise well-qualified students who do not take the subject tests are automatically deemed ineligible, even when their grades and test scores on the ACT or SAT are in some cases superior to those of students currently considered UC eligible. I believe removing this technical barrier will be viewed by students and parents as fairer than our current eligibility process.” Although this policy hopes to make the admission process fairer, that doesn’t mean it is suddenly easier. Some say that it is now more difficult to be accepted because an important piece of the application is being taken out, and it won’t be replaced with any other form of exam and sometimes these scores are more helpful than hurtful to the application, so some counter it’s more beneficial for students to leave the scores in. Yet, in favor of underrepresented high schools across the state, the UC administration has decided that it is more important to broaden the opportunity to more students who could be considered for admission. The UC faculty has absolutely no intention of targeting a certain ethnic population of people in favor of the Caucasian majority; they only wish to do the opposite: make the decision process more open to more people.          

Changes to 2012 fall applicants

        There are several key changes for UCs that will be important for fall 2012 applicants to comprehend. As described in the previous section, the elimination of SAT Subject Tests will be a major difference for current sophomores when it is their turn to submit their applications.

        Another new policy involves the “a-g” course requirements of the UC system. The new policy states that all applicants must complete 11 out of 15 “a-g” courses by the end of their junior year and all 15 courses must be completed by the end of their senior year. The current policy holds that this course completion is only required by the 4 percent who have been named as Eligible in the Local Context, specifically meaning that they are eligible for UC admission based on their GPA and transcripts alone. Pres students really don’t need to worry about this factor because Presentation has recorded “a-g” courses since freshman year, and Pres girls go above and beyond the minimum requirements set by the UC system.

        Eligibility in the Local Context (ELC) will also change in 2012. Currently, the top 4 percent of high school students are favored for admission will be aggrandized to include the top 9 percent of students, based on GPA and transcripts. This too, should not affect Pres students too much because of the overabundance of UC-approved classes available to girls. ELC doesn’t guarantee acceptance at all UC campuses, but ELC does at some campuses; these include: UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, UC Merced and UC Riverside. Right now, it is difficult to predict the effect of expanding the ELC eligibility percentage, especially since there will be so many more students guaranteed acceptance and it is difficult to predict how much space will be available for so many students.

        Then again, the last policy change just might answer this question. Currently, 12.5 percent of high school graduates statewide are guaranteed admission to a UC. The final policy will lower this percentage of students to nine percent. This nine percent represents the top nine percent of students of all high school graduates in California. Once again, Pres girls shouldn’t worry about the low percentage of students gaining admission to a UC because the percentage of Pres girls far exceeds 12.5 percent. Last year, for the class of 2009, a total of 367 applications were submitted to all nine campuses, and 162 students were accepted, which is an overall acceptance rate of 44.1 percent, according to Connolly.

        The UC system has recently experienced quite a few changes in policy that have affected students in recent years and will significantly affect freshman applicants of 2012. Budget cuts have taken their toll on UC campuses, and have dramatically affected the amount of students accepted at each of the nine campuses. Other policies, such as the elimination of SAT subject tests will be implemented in 2012 in an attempt to appeal to a broader pool of applicants and make the admissions process fairer. Other attempts to broaden the pool of applicants have been made by increasing the percentage of high school students eligible for ELC consideration, but also by decreasing the percentage of overall high school students to the top nine percent of their graduating classes. High school students should be aware of the many changes going on for UC campuses, because when it’s their turn to apply, they may be shocked to find that it’s a bit more competitive than they might have thought.

Home Green Home

This year Presentation has a new addition to the campus.  The Green House, as it is currently being called, is next to the Jenvey house—which the school also owns—and directly faces the front of the school.  It will soon be under construction.

“We’re just waiting for a building permit to remodel, which is pending approval with the city [of San Jose],” said Principal Mary Miler.  Until the permit is approved, Pres is allowed to clean up the inside and outside of the house, both of which are in process.

The Green House, which should be ready in early spring of 2010, is expected to be used by the members of the development office, which is now located across the hall from Ms. Schrader and Mrs. Taylor.  The vacated space, will most likely be converted into a counseling center for both class-level and college counselors, according to Miller. 

This consolidation is much needed for a number of reasons.  First, students sometimes wander around campus lost, unable to find their counselors, who are in four different locations.  Second, with the counselors in the same office, they can collaborate better, ensuring that students aren’t falling through the cracks.  Finally, that room has a kitchen, which means that students stressed out about life or college will have access to food, and who doesn’t want that?

According to Miller, the new counseling space will also allow for studying and tutoring, which is a good idea, particularly if Academic Dean Rosemarie Healy is relocated to that space.  Oddly enough, the space will also become home to Jazz Band and Choir Director Jerry Lovejoy.  While the combination of choir and counseling is somewhat jarring, it does at least free up Lovejoy’s current room—102—for more classroom space.  Air conditioned classroom space, which is much appreciated by students and teachers alike. 

While all these changes will certainly be positive ones for our school, some students are sure to be disappointed that the new house is not being turned into a student center.  Yes, there’s the center, but it’s not exactly a place to relax.

Insurance and security problems wouldn’t allow for the new house to be used as a student center, said Miller, who added that the city of San Jose would never allow a permit if students were off campus without proper supervision.  She did say, however, that a student center is something that is being considered, and may become a reality at some point in the future.  The key is to continue buying real estate in the neighborhood in order to free up more space on campus.

The new addition is going to be well-received no matter what.  Using the Green House as offices will in turn relive the stress of tight spaces for both teachers and students.